(WHO ARE continued from 6)
"types." Some partial explanations
follow.
The Impact of Social Expections
There are some people who fit into the
gay stereotype so well that they are
quickly suspected of being gay by the
people around them. These people are most
likely, because of the expectation that
they are gay, to examine their sexual
identities, and the gays among them iden
tify themselves as homosexuals. These
gays also have the most difficulty passing
as straight and so are likeliest to be
revealed as gay. Thus the gay community's
image is self-perpetuating; certain
"types" are more likely to come out, lead
ing to ever larger numbers of that "type"
being out in the community, reinforcing
the stereotype.
Double Oppressions
Those who live under the oppression
brought on by prejudices against race, sex
(female), class, ethnic background, and
others, may find it more difficult to come
out. Already facing social sanctions for
things beyond their control, this is one
fact about about them which would make
life more difficult to come out. Already
facing social sanctions for things beyond
their control, this is one fact about them
which would make life even more difficult
but which can—perhaps—be kept hidden.
The cost of coming out is often much too
high when one is struggling to live with
out the privileges of being white, male,
upper-class, non-handicapped, and so on.
And in some communities, such as the black
community, one also risks losing the sup
port of that community, support which is
needed in the face of a society hostile to
one’s race. Thus it is white, upper-class
men who have been in the gay limelight.
(This is not to trivialize the sufferings
of these men, but to put into perspective
the reluctance of others to join them.)
Needs of Other Communities
Those who live under other oppres-
sion(s) who are activists are likely to be
placing their energies into other, non-gay
related things: Lesbians might be launch
ing major projects for all women such as
rape crisis lines and battered women's
shelters or fighting for reproductive
rights; black Lesbians and gay men may be
trying to find jobs for black youth or
working for expansion/enforcement of civil
rights laws; hispanics, whose community
faces a galling 1/3 unemployment, may
believe their primary task is serving that
community's needs; and so on. Who could
call these activists undedicated or lazy
for not working primarily on gay and les
bian rights?
Media's Willing Submission to Stereotypes
A case in point comes from the 1985 Gay
Pride March and festival in Washington,
D.C. Though there was a strikingly
diverse crowd participating, the pictures
run in the next day's Washington Post did
not reflect this reality. All four of the
pictures were of white men (though the
crowd had been nearly half lesbian and
about one third people of color); three
shots were of men in "drag," and one was
of a group of men in "leather. Most
readers probably skimmed over or ignored
the accompanying article (which was sen
sitively written), and only noticed the
nonrepresentative, stereotypic pictures.
Money and Leisure
One cannot ignore the effects of avail
able money and leisure time. For example,
if men, on the average, have available to
them $1.00 for women's this inequal
ity of resources is going to be made
apparent in the leadership of the gay/
lesbian community.
Again, these are a simplification of
the pressures behind the misconceptions of
Who Gays Are.
To those reasons written this summer, I
now find I must add one more:
The Intransigence of the People in an
Established Gay (or Lesbians) Group
Already non-representative (mostly
because of the forces already outlined),
the groups don't usually throw open their
arms to these newcomers. A case in point
was the bitter fight by Lesbians (with a
few male supporters) to add "Lesbian to
the name of the Carolina Gay Association.
The guys resisted this change, and some
Lesbians, seeing how insensitive the
entrenched group would be to their needs,
left, never to return. It doesn't usually
take out-right opposition to drive off an
under-represented minority; plain disin
terest in taking up their concerns will be
enough.
How the HRCF can get the GWMs to become
more active is beyond me. The rest of us
^ill have to be pulled in by a program
which shows, at every step, its sensiti-
yity to the issues and problems outlined
above.
-Cathy E’Dalgo (formerly Labyris)